Freya held her breath, hid under the quilt, and lowered her voice to say to the man, "The maid who's keeping an eye on me is here. I have to hang up now!"

After saying that, she suddenly remembered something and added, "By the way, I need a needle kit and some antidote pills. If possible, ask Ying to find a way to send them to me."

For a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, silver needles can be used to treat all kinds of diseases.

Without a needle kit in hand, Freya always felt uneasy.

Moreover, in her current critical situation, the silver needles were the most important thing.

Bradley let out a hum. "Okay, I'll ask Ying to send them to you. You must take good care of yourself!"

Bradley also heard the sound of footsteps coming from the phone.

So he didn't chat any more and took the initiative to hang up the phone.

Freya hid the earphone again, pretended to have just woken up, and stretched.

Just then, the maid came in.

This was the time for afternoon tea, and the maid would always bring some pastries and fruits on time.

But Freya knew that the maid showed up so frequently actually to keep an eye on her and be able to report the situation to Yuan Xiao at any time.

After the maid delivered the things, she didn't stay long and turned to leave.

At this moment, Freya made another request. "I've been feeling a bit listless recently. Could you please get me some mint?"

Mint could greatly suppress her aftereffects.

Of course, this was Bradley's exclusive scent. When Freya missed Bradley, smelling this scent could also relieve her longing.

The maid agreed. "Okay, Miss Bai. I'll prepare it right away!"

Freya thanked her and then sat down to eat the pastries.

But her eyes glanced at the incense burner. The smell it gave off at the moment was not pure, but ordinary people couldn't tell. Unless a perfumer in the palace came to check, no one would find out that she had used other things to interfere with the fragrance of the incense.

Yuan Xiao wanted to bewitch her and make her under his control. His calculations were really shrewd.

Freya let out a cold snort. After finishing eating, she began to draw the terrain map of the palace.

Although the area where she could move was limited, she remembered clearly the roads she had passed when she first came to the palace. She even had a deep memory of several places with weak defenses. When Bradley wanted to sneak in, he could start from these places!

After the terrain map was drawn, Freya quickly hid it, lest the maid come in and find it.

Just then, the maid came in with the mint leaves.

Freya smelled the familiar scent, and her longing for Bradley suddenly surged like a tide.

She even looked forward to the day when she would meet him again!

...

On the other side.

Since Gabriel found Lan Xiaoling, he had been standing guard at her doorstep every day. However, Lan Xiaoling always avoided seeing him and even didn't allow the children to see him.

Although Gabriel was heartbroken, he didn't want to give up and protected her closely every day.

He even saw that the mother and her two children were living on simple food, so he went to the village to buy chicken, duck, fish, and meat and brought them over to improve their diet.

However, Lan Xiaoling remained unmoved and still ignored him every time. She even refused all the things he brought.

On the contrary, every time Mu Ye came, Lan Xiaoling would politely invite him to stay for a meal, and the two of them would chat and laugh. This made Gabriel extremely jealous. He warned Mu Ye several times to stay away from the mother and her two children.

But Mu Ye wasn't afraid of his warning. Whenever Gabriel showed up, Mu Ye would also rush over to stay by Lan Xiaoling's side as soon as possible.

He even stayed outside without sleeping or resting at night.

Gabriel's temper flared up, and he wished he could just kill Mu Ye.

But he knew that if he attacked Mu Ye again, it would only make Lan Xiaoling hate him more. Moreover, the person in front of him was Bradley's cousin, and Bradley had told him not to go too far.

Therefore, Gabriel could only hold back his anger and guard Lan Xiaoling together with Mu Ye. Even when he was really provoked, he showed mercy when he took action.

This kind of life continued for three days. Finally, the two children couldn't stand it anymore. At the dining table, they directly asked Lan Xiaoling, "Mommy, Daddy has been standing outside every day, neither sleeping nor eating. And it's so cold at night. Daddy won't be able to take it!"

Although they didn't know what had happened between their parents, the two children could also tell that their parents' relationship was strained.

Although they also liked Uncle Mu Ye, Gabriel was their biological father, and what they wanted most was to be with their daddy.

Lan Xiaoling's hand holding the chopsticks paused, and she looked at the children with a serious expression. "Daddy made a mistake and should be punished, just like you. If you're not obedient, you'll also be made to stand in the corner."

Yuanman didn't understand and asked back, "Then what mistake did Daddy make?"

When the child asked this, Lan Xiaoling didn't know how to answer.

This was the grudges between their sisters and Gabriel, and it was really inappropriate to involve the children.

Originally, Lan Xiaoling thought that with Gabriel's dark background, the children would only be affected if they were with him. But now, seeing the longing in the children's eyes, Lan Xiaoling suddenly felt a bit soft-hearted.

She was silent for a long time and finally made a decision.

"Okay, Mommy allows you to meet him, but Mommy hasn't forgiven him yet and doesn't want to see him."

When the children heard the first half of the sentence, they cheered with joy. But then they heard the second half of the sentence and immediately lost their enthusiasm.

"Mommy, I think Daddy should have realized his mistake. Can't Mommy forgive Daddy just like you forgave me and Yuanbao?"

When Lan Xiaoling heard the child's innocent words, her heart was slightly touched, but her reason made her say something disappointing.

"The situation between Mommy and your daddy is very complicated. You won't understand!"

Yuanman let out a disappointed "oh".

But thinking that she could see her daddy, she immediately put on a smile again, grabbed a steamed bun, jumped down from the dining table, and quickly opened the door and ran out.

When Gabriel saw the door open, he thought Lan Xiaoling had come out. But when he saw it was Yuanman, he was still a bit disappointed.

"Daddy, eat something!"

Yuanman obediently offered the steamed bun.

Gabriel looked at the white bun in the child's hand, and a smile finally appeared on his stiff face. Then he took the steamed bun and bent down to pick up Yuanman.

"Is Mommy still angry?"

Gabriel looked into the room. Yuanbao and Lan Xiaoling were sitting inside and showed no intention of coming out at all.

Although he was disappointed, thinking that Lan Xiaoling had allowed Yuanman to see him, which was already a step forward, he felt a little relieved.

Yuanman let out a hum. "Mommy said Daddy made a mistake and can't be forgiven!"

The child didn't know what the mistake was, but Gabriel knew clearly.

Lan Xiaoling couldn't get over what happened five years ago. After all, the situation their sisters were in was all caused by his accidental intrusion.

It was he who caused the changes in their sisters' lives, and it was he who triggered Xiao Lan's resentment towards Lan Xiaoling, resulting in the relationship between the two sisters almost breaking down.